Start with the flight days Nauru Airlines is the only passenger airline. Because it flies a few times a week, you cannot pick any dates you like. Three nights between rotations is the common stay, and a week suits divers, researchers and travellers who want to slow down. Check nauruair.com before you reserve a room. Pre-trip checklist Item What to do Visa Get it approved before you fly. None is issued on arrival.

Nauru is a 21 square kilometre island in the central Pacific, and the sensible way to plan it is by what you like doing. The five groups below cover everything that is on offer, with the practical limits stated up front. If you like moving under your own power The ring road is a single paved loop of about 19 km that touches every one of the 14 districts. Cyclists get the best of it, and the traffic-light stop where the road meets the airport runway is a small piece of local colour.

The geography in short Nauru sits by itself. The nearest land is Banaba in Kiribati, roughly 300 km away to the east-southeast, and Banaba has no passenger ferry or visitor facilities. Tarawa and the rest of the Gilbert Islands lie beyond 700 km. Inside the country there are no domestic flights, no ferries and no outer islands. Every journey in the republic is a drive of minutes along one road.

Nauru has no walking tour companies, so every walk below is on your own or with a local guide. The coast is flat. The interior is rough. The sun is the main hazard on all four. Walk 1: the ring road Length: about 19 km, paved and flat, passing through all 14 districts. When: leave at first light. Many walkers set off from Menen Hotel and go counter-clockwise. What you pass: the surf at Anibare Bay, the villages of Ewa and Baiti, the loaders at Aiwo, the airport near Boe and Yaren, and the southern cliffs.

What Nauru offers couples There are no overwater villas, no spa resorts and no honeymoon packages on Nauru. It does offer something rarer: a tiny island on the equator where you will hardly meet other visitors. The appeal is the ocean horizon, the quiet roads and the time to talk. If you want service and luxury, choose another Pacific island. Plan your evenings Late afternoon. Drive or cycle to Aiwo, where the two steel cantilever loaders stand over the reef.

Nauru is small enough that all seven sights below can be seen in a day or two, in whatever order the heat and your driver allow. Where a place has a hazard, it is stated with the place. 1. Command Ridge The highest point on the island is 65 m (213 ft), and the Japanese used it as a command post in the Pacific War. Twin 127 mm Type 89 guns remain in concrete pits, and a communications bunker with Japanese writing on its walls can be entered with a torch.

Read this first Nauru has no amusement parks, waterparks, zoo, children’s museum or kids’ clubs. It is a quiet island of 12,500 people, so a family trip here means simple outdoor days. The rules about water and sun matter more than the itinerary. Water rules for families The open ocean off the beaches has shore breaks and rip currents. No lifeguards work on the island. Local people swim inside Anibare Boat Harbour, which is a fishing harbour with working boats.

What exists and what does not Nauru has no tour agencies, no tour buses and no ticketed attractions. The big booking portals have no Nauru products. What does exist is an informal market in local drivers and guides, found by asking. Step 1: ask at your hotel The front desk at Menen Hotel is the usual first stop. Capelle & Partner, the Ewa business that runs a supermarket, department store, cafe and car hire, is another contact.